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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26798299">Leaving</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/park_jimins/pseuds/park_jimins'>park_jimins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Abusive Relationships, M/M, mentions of abuse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:21:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,916</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26798299</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/park_jimins/pseuds/park_jimins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuchan wants to be free, and so he runs from his abusive relationship. He meets Donghun along the way who offers him hope and a second chance of finding happiness.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kang Yuchan | Chan/Lee Donghun, Kang Yuchan | Chan/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. one</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yuchan stared at himself in the mirror opposite him, feeling dejected by his own appearance. His dyed red hair was fading, a colour he didn’t even want but his boyfriend, Hyunwoo, had pretty much made him dye it that colour after he said he wanted him to. The ugly bruise around his left eye and the one sitting along the right side of his jaw was a heavy reminder that his relationship with Hyunwoo was not going well. </p><p>His violence hadn’t initially been something Yuchan had seen coming. Hyunwoo was a police officer, and he had been immediately attractive to Yuchan since he was tall, typically handsome and had a head full of shiny black hair. They met after Yuchan nearly got himself arrested whilst too drunk after a night out with his friends, but Hyunwoo had been nice and had taken him home instead of arresting him, making sure he got to his house safely. Yuchan hadn’t expected him to ask him on a date pretty much the next day and that one date turned in many regular dates. He even wowed Yuchan’s parents when they visited them and showered him with so much love and affection that Yuchan never thought it’d turn out like it had.</p><p>It was just over a year into the relationship and when Yuchan had already moved into Hyunwoo’s apartment that things started to seem a little off. It started with small things, him nagging at Yuchan to spend more time with him because he was spending too much time with his friends, making Yuchan feel guilty and as if it was making Hyunwoo upset. Then it was convincing Yuchan that his parents didn’t like Hyunwoo, and it made him uncomfortable to go and visit them with him, but it upset him if Yuchan left him every other weekend. So, his visits to his parents got less and less frequent and they became non-existent once Hyunwoo started hitting him.</p><p>
  <em>“Where have you been?” Hyunwoo asked pretty much as soon as Yuchan stumbled through their apartment door. The smile Yuchan had been adorning was quickly wiped off his face when he saw his boyfriend sat on the couch, arms folded and looking at him with a glare. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What do you mean? You know I went out with my friends.” Yuchan closed the door and headed for the kitchen, his balance somewhat off after drinking but wanting some water before he went to bed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hyunwoo followed him, Yuchan didn’t notice just how angry his boyfriend seemed to be until he felt hands grip him, turning him around and pressing his back into the kitchen counter. Yuchan looked up at Hyunwoo, seeing the genuine anger in his expression and this was the first time he’d felt intimidated by his own boyfriend. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What’s wrong?” Yuchan asked. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why are you back so late? You said you were going to be home two hours ago and I trusted that you would be.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yuchan couldn’t understand what Hyunwoo was annoyed about, what did it matter if he was home late? Hyunwoo was supposed to be asleep by now anyway and he hadn’t seen his friends in weeks, so what if he spent a couple of extra hours with them?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t really understand why you’re mad but I don’t think this conversation is one we should have right now, I’m dizzy and just want to sleep.” Yuchan tried diffusing the situation, knowing that neither were in the best mood to talk and Yuchan really did just want to go to bed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Shaking his head, Hyunwoo said, “No, we’re doing this now, explain to me why you were late when I gave you a specific time to be back.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yuchan stared at his boyfriend for a moment before shaking his head too, then attempting to move towards their bedroom but Hyunwoo gripped his arm and pulled him back. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hyunwoo, that hurts.” Yuchan whined but it didn’t seem as though his boyfriend cared as he pressed him into the kitchen counter once again. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Did you cheat on me? Is that why you’re being evasive?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The accusation was a surprise and quite frankly ridiculous, Yuchan thought. He hadn’t known Hyunwoo to be jealous before, especially not when it was completely unfounded. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Scoffing, Yuchan looked at his boyfriend to gage whether he was joking or not but when the angry expression remained, Yuchan knew he was serious. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Are you joking? Where the hell would that even come from?” Yuchan raised his voice slightly, offended by Hyunwoo’s words, “You’d seriously accuse me of cheating just because I spent a bit of extra time out having fun with my friends? Something you never seem to want to let me do anymore.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The sudden pain Yuchan felt across his cheek left him gasping as his head snapped to the side. Hyunwoo had hit him, he had really hit him. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Turning back to face his boyfriend, Yuchan felt tears well up in his eyes at the shock more so than the pain. Hyunwoo’s angry expression quickly turned to one of guilt and he even seemed surprised himself by what he had just done. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yuchan, I…God, I’m so sorry.” Hyunwoo quickly apologised and Yuchan still felt too shocked to do anything as the elder leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek, bringing his hand up to soothe the skin and wipe some of the tears away. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t know what came over me, I-I promise I won’t do it again.” </em>
</p><p>Yuchan should have known it was a lie.</p><p>Things had escalated quickly from that point, the hitting got worse and his control over Yuchan was strangling. He barely let Yuchan out of his sight, didn’t let him leave the apartment unless Hyunwoo was with him, made sure to keep the door locked at all times so that Yuchan couldn’t leave. Hyunwoo took Yuchan’s phone and keys off him, giving him a new phone in return but giving him a sim card without a contract, so Hyunwoo could call him if need be but Yuchan couldn’t call anyone on it.  </p><p>That was over a year ago, and seeing himself now, Yuchan wanted to cry on the spot.</p><p>
  <em>I needed to leave, today.</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Hyunwoo was out of the apartment and Yuchan was going to take this as his chance to go before he got back. He had managed to steal Hyunwoo’s spare key so he could get out of the apartment without having to do anything drastic. Hyunwoo obviously hadn’t noticed the key missing, and Yuchan had spent the last week since he’d taken it fearing that he would, knowing the punishment would be harsh if he discovered that he was trying to flee.</p><p>Hyunwoo had once caught Yuchan in the middle of trying to take his keys whilst the elder was asleep, and he’d handcuffed Yuchan to their bed for a week as punishment.</p><p>Prepared, Yuchan had pre-packed and hidden a small backpack of what would be considered to be essentials underneath the bed last night and took all of the money Hyunwoo usually left in the apartment in case of emergencies. It wasn’t much but it would be enough to at least get him away from here and maybe stay the night somewhere before he figured out what to do after that.</p><p>Grabbing the bag, Yuchan made his way over to the front door, feeling the anxiety starting to bubble as he put the key in the lock and opened the door. It was the first time he had been out for months and certainly the first time out by himself pretty much since he had moved in with Hyunwoo and he was nervous.</p><p>However, he pushed through his anxiety and took the first steps towards his freedom, making sure to lock the door behind him so it wouldn’t be immediately obvious to Hyunwoo that something was up. Once the red head had gotten to bottom of the three flights stairs near to the exit of the apartment building, he pulled his hood up over his head, trying to hide his face a bit better since he knew the bruising would probably attract attention he didn’t want.</p><p>What Yuchan hadn’t anticipated or planned for was to see Hyunwoo making his way up the path to the building through the window by the door.</p><p>
  <em>Shit. </em>
</p><p>Thinking quickly, Yuchan rushed towards the back of the stairwell so that he could hide behind the gap underneath the stairs and he didn’t even dare to peak as he heard Hyunwoo open the heavy front door. Yuchan held his breath as the elder’s footsteps echoed up the stairs, only moving from his spot when he was sure Hyunwoo had gone up about two flights.</p><p>Practically running towards the door, Yuchan exited the building as quickly as he could knowing Hyunwoo would very quickly notice he was gone and checking outside was probably the first thing he would do.</p><p>He made it to the end of the pathway by the pavement when he heard Hyunwoo from behind him, “Yuchan?!”</p><p>Turning slightly, Yuchan saw Hyunwoo frantically looking around his surroundings before his eyes landed on the red head and his gaze hardened, “Come back here!”</p><p>Without any hesitation, Yuchan bolted, running down the street with as much speed as he could because there was no way he was going back to that apartment and to Hyunwoo.</p><p>Footsteps pounded on the pavement behind him and Yuchan knew the elder was chasing him, “Yuchan, stop!” He yelled and Yuchan obviously ignored him, or well he tried to but that was until he rounded the corner of the street and collided with another body, both Yuchan and the stranger clattering to the floor.</p><p>Scrambling to stand back up, Yuchan ignored the man as he apologised but allowed him to help him stand back up before trying to begin running again but the man caught his bruised wrist in a gentle but firm grasp and offered him a concerned look, “Hey, are you okay?”</p><p>“P-Please I need t-” Yuchan started as he tried to free himself from the stranger but cut himself off with an audible whimper when he saw Hyunwoo only a few feet away, obviously having had time to catch up.</p><p>The man turned to look behind him and barely had time to blink before Hyunwoo had shoved him out of the way, a bruising grip now on Yuchan’s biceps as Hyunwoo grabbed the younger and pushed him up against the closest wall.</p><p>“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Hyunwoo seethed, pushing him harder against the wall. The tight grip of one of Yuchan’s arms was dropped in favour of gripping his already bruised jaw to turn his face towards Hyunwoo when Yuchan flinched away, “You think you can just sneak off and leave? When we get home I’m gonna t-”</p><p>Hyunwoo began to threaten but was cut off by the stranger that Yuchan had tumbled into, “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but you need to get off him.” The stranger placed his hand on Hyunwoo’s arm.</p><p>Glancing sideways, Hyunwoo spat, “This doesn’t concern you so fuck off.”</p><p>“You can’t just assault someone in broad daylight, I’ll call the police and then it definitely will concern me.” The stranger threatened and Yuchan held his breath, waiting for Hyunwoo’s reaction.</p><p>Gritting his teeth, Hyunwoo turned properly to look at the man but kept the tight grip on Yuchan’s left arm, “Fine, come on.” Hyunwoo tugged on his arm, aiming to get Yuchan to go with him but the younger shot the stranger a pleading look to help.</p><p>Moving to take Hyunwoo’s arm again, the man stopped him from walking further, “No, I don’t think he wants to go with you.”</p><p>“I didn’t ask for your opinion, and I heard no objections from you, <em>right</em> Yuchan?” Hyunwoo’s gaze locked with Yuchan and he could see him almost smirking, thinking the younger would be too scared to ignore his threats now he’d caught him, but he was wrong.</p><p>
  <em>I am not going back with you. </em>
</p><p>“I-I don’t want to go with you.”</p><p>Hyunwoo smirk fell and was quickly replaced with the usual angry expression that Yuchan saw him with, whilst his grip on his bicep somehow got tighter. “We’re going home, Yuchan.” He growled and the red head flinched again.</p><p>“Let him go before I call the police.” The man next to pair spoke calmly yet his tone was serious. Hyunwoo seemed to finally understand that he would indeed phone the police about this situation, and finally released the hold he had on Yuchan’s arm.</p><p>Hyunwoo probably knew how it would look if his colleagues turned up to the scene and the man explained to them what had just happened. A police officer getting caught assaulting his boyfriend in broad was not only embarrassing but also probably something he could get sacked for.</p><p>Shooting backwards, Yuchan pressed himself up against the wall to try and put some distance between himself and Hyunwoo now he wasn’t holding him. The stranger took the opportunity to step between them, offering him a barrier between Yuchan and his abuser.</p><p>“I suggest you leave now.”</p><p>Hyunwoo glared before looking at Yuchan again, “I’ll be back for you.”</p><p>With that, Hyunwoo sulked off and Yuchan waited until he couldn’t see him anymore before he let out a sob and slid down the wall to the ground. Yuchan couldn’t believe what had just happened, he absolutely thought that he was going to have to go back with Hyunwoo and face whatever hell he was going to put him through for trying to run off but no. <em>He’s gone and I’m free. </em></p><p>Crouching down in front of him, the stranger that had saved Yuchan from way more than he could imagine, looked concerned and almost panicked, “Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?”</p><p>Looking up at him, Yuchan wiped at his eyes and the stranger finally got a good looked at the bruising on his face if the gasp that followed was anything to go by, “Did he do that? Is that why you were running?”</p><p>Shaking his head, Yuchan then paused before nodding, “H-He did it, but that wasn’t specifically why I was running, b-but I-I don’t know how to thank you.”</p><p>“You don’t need to thank me, you clearly needed help and he was giving off all sorts of the wrong vibes.” The stranger smiled a little, “I’m Donghun by the way.”</p><p>“Yuchan, o-or Chan, I-I’m Yuchan.” He replied dumbly and he inwardly cringed at himself for how awkward he sounded. To be fairer on himself though, Yuchan was particularly shaken up and on his anxiety was high, and he hadn’t really been able to speak to anyone that wasn’t Hyunwoo for a good while now either, so he was maybe a bit rusty.</p><p>Continuing to smile, Donghun didn’t seem phased by his awkwardness and simply nodded, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Yuchan, despite the circumstances, but I think we should get you away from here.”</p><p>“P-Please.” Yuchan said in confirmation, carefully taking hold of his hand that he offered to him and standing up.</p><p>“Do you have anywhere to go?” Donghun asked as they started walking and Yuchan admitted to him that he didn’t right now, “Do you wanna go to a café or something? You can just try and calm down there and we can figure something out?” He suggested and the younger agreed easily, not knowing what else to do.</p><p>Following him into a café about twenty minutes away from where he had bumped into him, Donghun got them a table upstairs at the back before heading downstairs to go and order something. No one else was upstairs and Yuchan was glad no one was around to see him starting to fidget now that he was alone and was able to let his mind anxiously start running.</p><p>What was he going to do now? Yuchan hadn’t anticipated for Hyunwoo to be there when he tried to leave, he had thought the elder would have been back hours later which is why he decided to leave when he did, but now he had way less time to try and come up with a plan because Hyunwoo already knew he was gone and would no doubt waste no time in looking for him. Hyunwoo wasn’t just going to let him go, especially given how they’d parted, he was probably angrier that Donghun had stepped in and Yuchan wouldn’t put it passed Hyunwoo to try something in that regard, which meant that he may have put Donghun in some danger.</p><p>Going to his parents was probably also out of the question for now, Hyunwoo would assume that’s the first place he would go because he didn’t know anyone else.</p><p>“Hey.” A voice broke Yuchan from his thoughts, and he snapped his eyes up see Donghun putting the tray of some drinks down on the table between them. “You okay? I can practically hear you thinking.”</p><p>“I-yeah, t-there’s just a lot going on.” Yuchan said, sighing a little at the end before panicking somewhat, “B-But! Uhm, thank you, f-for this a-and helping me, you didn’t have to.”</p><p>Smiling, Donghun shook his head, “I already told you that you don’t have to thank me, though I am curious about what is was that I intervened with, if you don’t mind me asking?”</p><p>Donghun wanted to know what happened or presumably who Hyunwoo was, which was understandable, it’s not often you come to the aid of a stranger who barrelled into you when they were literally running away from another man.</p><p>“H-He’s my…boyfriend, I guess.” Yuchan answered and Donghun seemed confused at that.</p><p>“You guess?”</p><p>
  <em>Should I just tell him? How much should I tell him?</em>
</p><p>“Well, that’s how we started?” The younger said, a question in his tone before he sighed again, “I-I don’t know what to call him anymore, Hyunwoo, he-we weren’t always like that.”</p><p>Donghun seemed to understand at least something from what he said as he nodded, staying silent to encourage Yuchan to keep going, “I-I don’t want to be with him anymore, haven’t for a long time and today just went a bit wrong, h-he wasn’t supposed to see me leave, h-he wasn’t supposed to be there at all.”</p><p>“And he did this to you?” He motioned to the bruises, “Are they from today?” His voice was quieter when he asked that, seemingly a bit more nervous to ask that question.</p><p>Shaking his head, Yuchan confirmed, “No, they…they aren’t from today.”</p><p>Donghun understood what that meant, “Have you tried leaving before?”</p><p>“Y-Yeah, it didn’t go so well, today wouldn’t have gone well either if you hadn’t stepped in.” The red head said, looking down at his lap now, “I know you said I-I don’t have to thank you b-but I can’t explain what you’ve done for me.”</p><p>Donghun’s expression was sympathetic, and it seemed as though it may have been dawning on him that he had helped a lot more than he had realised as he said, “I honestly thought it was just a normal fight before he spoke to you like he did, then it seemed like there was something up.” He offered a sad smile, “Were you planning on meeting someone else like do you have anywhere to go after this?”</p><p>“I-I’m not sure, I-I was gonna stay the night at a hostel or something before I figured out what to do.” Yuchan admitted, not feeling the need to hide the fact he was woefully unprepared since he didn’t think Donghun was going to judge him for it.</p><p>“Do you not have family to stay with, friends?” Donghun asked before quickly adding, “I’m sorry, that probably sounds quite rude and prying.”</p><p>Shaking his head, Yuchan tried to reassure him, “No, don’t worry about it, it’s not prying, I just…don’t know how to explain it because i-it’s a lot but I do have family that I was planning on going back to just uhm…just not right away.”</p><p>“Not right away?” Donghun queried before guessing, “Is it that bad with Hyunwoo? Are you worried about going to them?”</p><p>“Yeah, I-I am.”</p><p>Seeming to think for a moment, Donghun looked nervous as he asked, “I know we’re basically strangers and this may be a bit forward but in all honesty I’m not gonna be able to stop worrying about it unless I ask so do you perhaps want to stay with me? Just for a few days? I don’t mind if it helps you get things figured out.”</p><p>
  <em>Well, that wasn’t something I was expected. </em>
</p><p>Slightly shocked at his offer, Yuchan asked to clarify, “W-Wait, really? Y-You’d do that?”</p><p>Nodding, he answered, “Yeah, I’m serious.”</p><p>“B-But you don’t know me.”</p><p>Sighing, Donghun’s shoulders fell a little, “I know, and I know how it probably sounds but to be honest I’m just really concerned and you just seem like you need someone to give you a bit of a hand and my friends do always say I am too sympathetic.”</p><p>The offer was tempting, there was no point denying that, Yuchan didn’t have much money on him or any real way of getting access to any extra so he wouldn’t be able to stay at the hostel very long and he still didn’t have a plan for after that since he was worried Hyunwoo would turn up to his parents’ house. A few days staying at Donghun’s might actually be a big help to him right now.</p><p>“Okay, i-if you’re fine with it then yeah, I-I’d like to.” Yuchan accepted his offer and Donghun’s face lit up, “Thank you, you’ve been very kind to me.”</p><p>“Don’t mention it, seriously,” Donghun beamed before adding, “But I do want to say that I have a roommate, his name is Byeongkwan but don’t worry he’s super nice and he won’t bother you, I promise.”</p><p>“That’s okay.”</p><p>The pair didn’t spend much longer in the café and conversation was minimal. Yuchan thought that was because he had already divulged a lot of information to Donghun already and he didn’t want to be too much when he had only just met the man, Yuchan worried he already looked and sounded pathetic enough as it was.</p><p>The walk to Donghun’s place wasn’t too long but Yuchan couldn’t help checking behund them frequently as they walked, feeling paranoid that Hynwoo might appear from nowhere. He didn’t know if Hyunwoo would have followed them and the fact Yuchan hadn’t been out like this for so long was making him feel vulnerable and causing his anxiety to spike. The relief that came to Yuchan when Donghun led him into his flat and closed the door behind them was immense.</p><p>
  <em>Hyunwoo couldn’t see me here.  </em>
</p><p>The apartment was nice, it seemed like one that people in their twenties would typically live in, small, not too much clutter. Neat and clean.</p><p>“Would you like to see the room first? We have a spare since our old roommate moved out, you can settle for a bit if you’d like and you can have a bit of space?” Donghun suggested as soon as he’d slipped his shoes off, an action which Yuchan copied since he didn’t want to be rude.</p><p>Wordlessly, the younger agreed to his offer by nodding and he led him the short distance to the spare bedroom he was talking about down to the end of the little hallway. The room was an average size and pleasantly clean, not that Yuchan was going to complain anyway because this was much better than a hostel somewhere regardless of whether it was a little dusty or not.</p><p>“The bathroom is next door,” Donghun pointed to the door to his left, “And my room is next to yours to the right so if you need anything I’ll literally be next door or out in the living room, Byeonkwan is obviously opposite you.”</p><p>Nodding, Yuchan cautiously walked into what was his temporary room for a few days before turning back to face Donghun, “I-It’s nice, thank you so much.”</p><p>Donghun was about to say something when the door opposite opened up to reveal a shorter male with blonde hair, “Are you talking to someo-oh hey who’s this?”</p><p>“Byeongkwan, this is Yuchan, he’s going to be staying here for a few days.” Donghun informed him and Byeongkwan accepted the answer quickly.</p><p>“Okay, that’s cool, nice to meet you.” Byeongkwan offered Yuchan a small smile, which he did his best to return whilst also returning the sentiment of it being nice to meet Byeongkwan too before the blonde slipped back off into his room.</p><p>Donghun gave Yuchan a sympathetic smile once the ohter was gone, “Sorry, I was gonna introduce you properly later when dinner was ready but see? He won’t bother you, but he is pretty chatty so if you would prefer to eat in here instead of with us later then you’re more than welcome.”</p><p>“I-I’ll let you know, thank you again.” Yuchan replied, hoping Donghun did know that he was hugely grateful for what he was doing and making accommodations for him when most people wouldn’t have even intervened if they had seen what was happening with Hyunwoo in the first place.</p><p>With that, Donghun said goodbye with a small wave before closing the door behind him, leaving Yuchan alone in the space.</p><p>Once the door was closed, the red head let out a huge breath and moved towards the bed, slipping his backpack off and placing it down on the bed. Opening the bag, Yuchan reached in to double check how much money he had brought with him, needing to know in order to work out what exactly he could do with it but his hand landed on his phone instead and he froze. Yuchan had completely forgotten that he had put it in his bag.</p><p>
  <em>Could Hyunwoo trace it? Was he allowed to do that? He can’t track it if it’s off, right?</em>
</p><p>Pulling it out of his bag, Yuchan flicked the screen on to see that he had twenty one missed calls and numerous messages. Deciding he didn’t want to read what Hyunwoo had said to him, Yuchan went to turn the phone off completely but stopped when Hyunwoo’s name popped up on the screen telling him he was calling again.</p><p>Yuchan had never deliberately ignored Hyunwoo’s calls before, rational sense was dictating that Yuchan ignore him but the anxiety and fear that was currently running at high levels was saying he should answer, even if it was simply to ask Hyunwoo to leave him alone, to stand up to him.</p><p>Shaking his head, Yuchan powered down his phone and let out a deep shaky breath.</p><p>He wasn’t going to let Hyunwoo get to him anymore, he was determined. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hii, thanks for reading ! i hope some of you enjoyed it, i want to keep writing more so hopefully people want to see more. i can't say how often updates will be because i've just started uni up again but i'm hoping they won't be too infrequent but hopefully some of you are interested xx</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yuchan couldn’t sleep.</p><p>He had spent an awkward dinner with Byeongkwan and Donghun, they had been nothing but nice to him and were careful with any questions they asked, but all they had gotten from Yuchan was stuttered and small responses.</p><p>It felt to Yuchan that his anxiety was getting the better of him, that he couldn’t hold it together anymore. He had started crying pretty much as soon as he had got back to the room he was staying in, feeling overwhelmed with everything that had happened today.</p><p>Hours had passed since then and Yuchan didn’t feel any better nor could he stop his thoughts racing.</p><p>He didn’t know what he was going to do now, he really didn’t. Yuchan’s desire was to just be away from Hyunwoo and he hadn’t thought much beyond that because there wasn’t much he could plan for. His access to money was limited and the only people his could go to are his parents and Yuchan knew he couldn’t go to them immediately.</p><p>
  <em>But, maybe I should call them? They might know what to do and it’s been so long. </em>
</p><p>Once the thought of calling them was in his head, he knew he had to do it, it was only ten so hopefully they would be awake. It would probably be a bit weird for him to turn up randomly at their house after not seeing them for so long anyway. Yuchan didn’t know what they thought had happened and there was a chance they were mad at him given he hadn’t spoken to or seen them for a year now.</p><p>Getting up from the bed, Yuchan went to grab his phone from his bag before remembering that he was worried Hyunwooo might be able to track it.</p><p>Biting his lip, Yuchan left the room and stood outside of Donghun’s door long enough for it to be creepy, wanting to ask if he could borrow his phone but what if he was asleep? Yuchan didn’t want to disturb him, but he said he could come to him if I needed anything.</p><p>Suddenly, Donghun’s door opened and Yuchan froze, probably looking like a deer caught in the headlights.</p><p>“Yuchan? Are you alright?” Donghun asked, not seeming fazed by the fact the younger had just been standing there and didn’t even look like he was about to knock.</p><p>“Y-Yeah, I uhm…I was wondering if I-I could borrow your phone?” Yuchan asked, voice quiet.</p><p>If Donghun was curious, he didn’t say anything and silently went back into his room to grab his phone before coming back to hand it to Yuchan.</p><p>“Use it for as long as you need.” He smiled and Yuchan found himself smiling back before he thanked the elder and slipped back off into his own room.</p><p>Sitting back down on the bed, Yuchan took a deep breath as he typed in his mum’s phone number, having it memorised in case of an emergency and hoped she hadn’t changed it for whatever reason in the last year. Hearing the dial tone nearly made him hang up, almost feeling too nervous to go through with it.</p><p>“Hello?” His mother’s voice came through the speaker and it was enough for Yuchan to tear up.</p><p>“M-Mum? I-It’s Yuchan, I…I’ve missed you so much.” He confessed, and he heard his mother gasp on the other end of the line.</p><p>“Channie? My baby, where have you been? We’ve been so worried about you because you just stopped calling and Hyunwoo wouldn’t tell us anything when we asked.” She sounded upset too and Yuchan felt guilty knowing that he’d caused his parents to worry.</p><p>Sniffling, he replied, “I-I’ve been with Hyunwoo, but t-there’s a lot, Mum.”</p><p>“Can you facetime? I need to see you, honey, it’s been so long.” She requested and Yuchan could feel his anxiety starting to spike again.</p><p>“I-I don’t think you’d like to see me now.” He replied and that only seemed to make his mother worry more.</p><p>“Honey, what do you mean? Are you okay? Please let me see you.” She was practically begging, and Yuchan could understand where she was coming from to an extent.</p><p>She hadn’t spoken to or seen him for a year, and then she gets a call out of the blue where her son is clearly nearly crying and sounding distressed. Yuchan would want to see her too if this was the other way around.</p><p>Hearing her gasp again when they switched to video was not very pleasant for Yuchan, and he could barely look at her when he noticed her eyes starting to glisten with tears, “Oh, my baby, what happened to you? Are you with Hyunwoo?”</p><p>Shaking his head, he answered, “No, I-I’ve left him, that’s why I’m calling.”</p><p>“Did he do that to you?” She paused, looking a little at a loss, “Has he been hurting you?”</p><p>When the only answer Yuchan gave her was a weak nod and his hand covering his face as he started to cry properly, his mother immediately seemed to panic, “Where are you? Are you safe right now?</p><p>Sniffling, he nodded, “Y-Yeah, I’m safe, I-I’m staying with someone but he’s nice, he’s h-helping me.”</p><p>“Okay, baby, that’s a start.” His mother seemed to breathe a bit of a sigh of relief upon hearing that Yuchan wasn’t in any immediate danger but didn’t have time to say anything more before Yuchan’s father moved into the frame with her.</p><p>“Chan?” His father’s voice sounded surprised, “Channie, it’s been so long, are you…where are you? We’ll come and get you.” He looked close to tears as well and Yuchan felt guilty that he was causing his parents further worry and upset.</p><p>“No, Dad, I-I don’t know when I can come home, I-I’m scared Hyunwoo’s gonna look for me now and I don’t know what to do because what if he turns up to yours a-and I’m there? I-I can’t see him again.” Yuchan was panicking just thinking about it.</p><p>His father seemed to think for a moment before asking, “Does he still work for the police? Is that what you’re worried about?”</p><p>Nodding, Yuchan admitted, “I-I’m scared he’s gonna get you in trouble somehow, I-I don’t know what to do.”</p><p>“Channie…has this been going on long?” His mother seemed nervous to ask.</p><p>Nodding once again, Yuchan couldn’t look at them as he answered, “P-Pretty much since I-I stopped talking to you, h-he wouldn’t let me see you or talk to you, and I didn’t know what to do because I-I was so scared of him.”</p><p>Yuchan watched as his father shook his head, jaw clenched, “I should’ve pressed harder when he wouldn’t let us talk to you,” He started, looking guilty all of a sudden, “We went to the station to ask for him, just wanting him to tell us you were at least okay but he wouldn’t tell us anything and he was refusing to let us talk to you and we tried the other officers an asked them to look into it because the behaviour was so unlike you but they said they couldn’t do anything unless we suspected domestic violence.”</p><p>The shock on Yuchan’s face was clear to his parents, his mother quick to continue after that, “We didn’t want to think about that possibility, Hyunwoo had seemed so lovely and we just didn’t want to believe the worst especially since we didn’t have proof, we preferred to just think you needed some space for whatever reason.”</p><p>“We tried the police again when a few months passed, we knew something was wrong then because you wouldn’t just cut off all communication with everyone like that, and we were completely at a loss, but they said they would look at it but then we…we never heard back and then we really didn’t know what to do if they weren’t listening to us.” His father looked upset and Yuchan could tell that both of them felt guilty for not doing more but what else could they do if the police had dismissed them twice?</p><p>For all Yuchan knew, Hyunwoo could have had something to do with the fact they never followed up, he wouldn’t put it passed him.</p><p>“It’s not your fault, you couldn’t have known.” Yuchan reassured, “I-I didn’t see it coming either.”</p><p>Sighing, his father replied, “But are you definitely safe right now? We can let you know if Hyunwoo comes because I don’t think he’ll come back if we say we haven’t spoken to you for a year, but we’re worried.”  </p><p>“I’m safe, really, Donghun, he’s nice, I-I’ll be okay here for a few days.” Yuchan said, smiling a little although he knew it probably didn’t make them feel much better about the situation.</p><p>“How did you meet him?” His mother asked.</p><p>“I ran into him when I-I was uhm…running from Hyunwoo, and he intervened.”</p><p>That seemed to upset his mother because she started crying almost as soon as he said it, “Oh, my baby, I can’t believe you’re going through this, I’m so sorry we haven’t been there, please come home as soon as you can.”</p><p>Yuchan’s heart clenched at the sight but nodded vehemently, “I’ll be home soon, I mean it.” He promised, believing it to be true.</p><p>“Just stay safe, okay, Channie? If you need us don’t hesitate to call us, we’ll be here and we’ll be waiting for you.” His father reassured his son.</p><p>“I-I love you, I’m sorry I took so long to come back.”</p><p>Both of my parents shook their heads, “No, don’t apologise, it’s not your fault, and we love you too, so come home to us safe.”</p><p>“I-I will.” Yuchan smiled, “I should go now though, I-I’ll call again soon.”</p><p>“Bye baby, it’s been so nice to see you, don’t make me wait too long to give you a hug.” His mother laughed tearfully, and his father said his goodbyes again too before they ended the call there.</p><p>Dropping the phone to the bed, Yuchan leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath. Calling his parents and seeing them had made Yuchan feel better, he really had missed them a lot and it was good to know that they were there and ready to support him. His fears of them being mad at him completely unfounded.</p><p>Yuchan felt horrible to know that they had tried to get the police involved just to find out if he was okay. He remembers Hyunwoo telling him that he spoke to his parents at one point, but Hyunwoo had said that he reassured them that he was okay and Yuchan had just gone along with it. That was either completely naïve or Yuchan just wanted to not keep thinking that he was causing his parents to worry when he couldn’t do anything about it, so took Hyunwoo’s word for it.</p><p>Sighing, Yuchan got up from the bed, thinking it best that he should return Donghun’s phone to him. He was greeted with a warm smile from the elder as he opened his bedroom door, and Yuchan found himself smiling back almost immediately.</p><p>“H-Here’s your phone, thank you.” Yuchan said, handing him his device back.</p><p>“No worries, but how are you doing? I know today has probably been a lot for you.” He asked, seeming genuinely concerned.</p><p>“I-I’ll be okay, I think.”</p><p>Donghun seemed happy with that but looked hesitant as he asked, “Uhm…I know we don’t know each other well but I was wondering if you’d want to watch a movie with me? I usually watch with Byeongkwan but he’s gone to bed early and I kinda hate watching things alone.”</p><p>The request surprised Yuchan, he wasn’t expecting Donghun to want to do something so casual with him after barely having met each other. However, considering Donghun was letting him stay in his flat barely an hour after meeting him, Yuchan supposed Donghun was probably not one to dwell on such issues. Also, there was really no harm in watching a film with him, it’s the least Yuchan could do given his generosity towards the red head so far.</p><p>“Is it scary?” Yuchan asked after a moment.</p><p>Perking up at the question, which basically implied that Yuchan would watch the movie with him, Donghun shook his head, “No, no it’s supposed to be a comedy, so is that alright?”</p><p>Nodding, Yuchan offered him another smile and followed the elder into the living room where he already had the movie setup and ready.</p><p>Donghun handed Yuchan a blanket and got comfy on the couch with his own blanket before starting the film. Yuchan wrapped the material around himself and attempted to get as comfortable as he could, eyes glued to the screen but barely paying attention.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Despite agreeing to the film, Yuchan felt awkward in the space and found that he couldn’t relax as the movie progressed. Nearly an hour into the film and Yuchan was still sat rigidly at the complete opposite end of the couch to Donghun, unsure of how to act or how to get himself to focus properly on the film in order to loosen up.</p><p>Donghun eventually paused them film and turned to look at Yuchan, “Am I making you uncomfortable? It’s totally okay if you don’t want to sit here with me, I really don’t mind, honestly.”</p><p>Yuchan immediately felt bad, “N-No, it’s not you, I-I’m just…awkward and I don’t really know how to act around people well or I guess I don’t know how to relax anymore.” He admitted, looking down at his lap because it felt like a pathetic thing to say.</p><p>“Is it because of him or were you like that anyway?” Donghun asked, curious but no judgement in his tone.</p><p>Fidgeting with his hands again, Yuchan replied, “Him I think…I-I was always quite loud and cheerful before him and even for a year or so into our relationship.”</p><p>“What happened for it to change?”</p><p>Yuchan sighed thinking about it, “He just suddenly seemed so angry a lot, h-he would take it out on me when he was mad and after he h-hit me for the first time, I-I felt nervous to upset him because I didn’t want to upset him, and it felt like I didn’t know how to act normally anymore because I was scared to anger him.” He confessed, not really knowing if that was too much information to divulge but Donghun seemed willing to listen and like he was interested, so hopefully it wasn’t too much too soon.  </p><p>Donghun moved slightly closer and Yuchan let him, assuming it was a show of trying to provide him with some comfort, a way of saying he was there and listening.</p><p>“Were you worried about upsetting me?” Donghun’s voice a little quieter now.</p><p>Pausing for a moment, Yuchan then nodded, “I-I think so, instinctive response after so long I guess, I-I’m scared to upset people.”</p><p>“I know it won’t change it immediately by saying this but you don’t have to worry about that with me, I’m not gonna get upset at you for stuff regardless of what it is but I would like to figure out your boundaries.”</p><p>Looking towards him, Yuchan tilted my head, “Boundaries?”</p><p>Donghun nodded, “Yeah, like what you’re comfortable with, what I should or shouldn’t do to avoid making you uncomfortable.”</p><p>“Y-You’d do that?” Yuchan questioned.</p><p>“I want to, you’re staying with me and I want to make sure you feel okay, we can start by getting to know each other a little better if that’d help?” He waited for Yuchan to nod in agreement, “Okay, I’ll start, I’m twenty-five and I work at a bakery not too far from here.”</p><p>“A bakery?”</p><p>Smiling, Donghun confirmed, “Yeah, I hadn’t planned for it but I’m there now and I enjoy it so it’s all good. How old are you?” He then asked.</p><p>“I’m twenty-one, a-and I’m unemployed at the minute, I-I was looking into university courses b-but obviously that’s on hold.” Yuchan answered, biting his lip at the end upon thinking the response might sound sad.</p><p>However, Donghun didn’t seemed bothered by that and was more focused on the age aspect as he frowned and asked, “How old is Hyunwoo?”</p><p>“Uh, twenty-eight, I-I think.” I said, spotting the puzzled look on Donghun’s face, “I-I know…him wanting to date me at nineteen should’ve been some sort of red flag I guess.”</p><p>Hindsight was wonderful.</p><p>Looking back down at his lap, Yuchan continued, “My parents did bring it up, I know they were concerned b-but he impressed them so much I think it just didn’t seem weird and I-I think him being a police officer convinced them that he wouldn’t be like a creep or something.”</p><p>Donghun seemed shocked at the information, “He’s a police officer? And he acts like that?”</p><p>Yuchan nodded glumly, “Yeah…I-I know right? That’s why it surprised me when he t-turned out how he is now, y-you just kinda don’t expect it a lot of the time.”</p><p>Every part of Yuchan wishes he hadn’t met Hyunwoo, or that he had said no to going out with him or that he had stood up to him before it got as bad as it was. Yuchan felt like he had had multiple opportunities to turn this whole thing around and instead he had ended up running away and having to get help from a stranger. In truth, Yuchan wasn’t sure when he would have got another chance at freedom if Donghun hadn’t been there, Hyunwoo’s grip on him would only have gotten tighter and Yuchan was scared of the elder finding him now in case that happened. Yuchan wasn’t sure he could cope with any more.</p><p>“How bad is it? If you don’t mind me asking, obviously I don’t want to pry.” Donghun’s voice was soft once again and Yuchan looked to see him with the same sad expression on his face and believed him to be sincere.</p><p>“Q-Quite bad, today is the first time I-I’ve been out of that apartment for months, I stole a key from him so I could leave.”</p><p>Donghun’s eyes widened, “He doesn’t let you out?”</p><p>Yuchan shook his head, “No, he doesn’t, he knows I’ll leave if he doesn’t keep the door locked and he banks on the fact I’m too scared to steal his keys after the first time I tried and he caught me doing trying to.”</p><p>“Did…Did he hurt you?” Donghun seemed nervous now.</p><p>Nodding, Yuchan replied sadly, “Handcuffed me to the bed f-for a week a-after beating the crap out of me.” Tears suddenly sprung to his eyes at the memory and also just the reality of this whole thing, “I-I’m terrified he’s gonna find me, I-I don’t know how much more I-I can take.”</p><p>Leaning forward, Yuchan moved to rest his arms on his tights as he pressed his hands to his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears spilling. Donghun’s hand moved to gently rest on his back, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, you don’t have to tell me anything.”</p><p>“I-It’s not you, I-I just haven’t told anyone about what’s happening before and I should be sorry, y-you shouldn’t have to deal with this or well…me.” Yuchan’s tone was self-pitying, he was upset.  </p><p>There was a moment of silence before Donghun spoke, “Yuchan, I wanted to help you, I <em>want </em>to help you, you’re not a burden if that’s what you’re thinking, and you don’t need to apologise.” He sighed, “I’d have been a pretty shitty human if I’d just left you, you clearly needed help and there’s nothing wrong with that, and if you need to talk about stuff then I’ll listen, I won’t judge you.”</p><p>Yuchan sniffled, “W-Why are you being so nice? Y-You barely know me.” He was barely able to wrap his head around the fact Donghun was being so calm with him despite the uncomfortable situation the red head had likely put him in.</p><p>“I’d like to get to know you better.” Donghun admitted and Yuchan could tell he meant it, “And I know keeping everything inside after what you’ve been through is probably overwhelming and I think telling a practical stranger may be helpful.” The tone in his voice lifted a little and Yuchan knew he was trying to make a joke at the end.</p><p>Lifting his head, Ithe younger looked to see Donghun smiling softly, “Do you want to watch the rest of the film or head to bed? I’m sure you’re exhausted.”</p><p>“I-I’ll watch the rest of the film, and thanks for…well j-just thank you.” Yuchan offered a weak smile and Donghun did the same before both moved to settle back down on the couch to finish the movie.</p><p>However, this time, Yuchan felt just a little bit more at ease.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>not super sure about this chapter, i only had a plan for like half of it and i didn't know how else to expand. i have a better plan for next chapter etc so im hoping that one feels a bit better because donghun and chan's relationship will develop a bit more and all that. </p><p>anyways, hopefully this doesn't put you off and some of you will still like to read more, i'll hopefully get a chapter out soon since i've written some of chapter three already xx</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anxiety and guilt were weighing down on Yuchan.</p><p>It had been two days since he had run into Donghun and he had spent the entirety of yesterday pretty much sat in the bedroom Donghun was letting him stay in because he felt like he just didn’t have the energy to try and talk or be around anyone.</p><p>Hiding out when things got too much for was something Yuchan did a lot with Hyunwoo, he could only do it via things like sitting in the bathroom for as long as he could before Hyunwoo called him out, but he took as many chances as he could. Yuchan didn’t feel guilty doing it to Hyunwoo because he wanted to be away from him, but doing it to Donghun made him feel bad.</p><p>Donghun had been nothing but patient with the red head, he had tried coaxing Yuchan out a few times, making light conversation where he could, and Yuchan just felt bad that he wasn’t able to say much back. Donghun was trying and it seemed as though Yuchan wasn’t.  </p><p>However, Yuchan had been thinking. He knew he couldn’t stay with Donghun forever and the time alone had given him enough room to come up with a little bit of a plan as to what his next steps would be.</p><p>First thing, he decided he wanted to dye his hair back to black, the colour would blend with people a lot more than the red and Hyunwoo would be looking for a red head. Second, he needed to get himself a phone, if only to contact his parents when he needed, he couldn’t rely on Donghun, especially if he wasn’t going to be staying here much longer.</p><p>A knock on the door jolted Yuchan from his thoughts and before he could get up and answer, the door opened to reveal a tired yet smiling Donghun with a breakfast tray.</p><p>“Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you were awake yet but uhm I brought you some breakfast and thought maybe you’d want to eat in here since I didn’t know if you were feeling better?” Donghun sounded unsure as he moved closer to the bed, placing the tray down near to Yuchan’s legs and perching on the end of the bed. “Also, I wanted to apologise if I made you uncomfortable the other night with my questions, in case that’s why you didn’t really want to talk yesterday.”</p><p>
  <em>Well, now I felt really guilty. </em>
</p><p>“I-It wasn’t you, I promise, I just…there’s just a lot going on in my head.” Yuchan said, moving to scratch at his arm out of nervous habit.</p><p>Donghun’s eyes moved to the younger’s arms, which were not currently covered up by the hoodie he had seen him wearing for the last two days, “I forgot to ask if you wanted me to get you anything to help the bruising? They look pretty painful.”</p><p>Looking down at his arms, Yuchan nodded, “T-That would be good, thank you.” The skin did look pretty bad and if he could get the bruising to go away faster then great, all they did was make him think of Hyunwoo anyway.</p><p>“I can pick it up when I go the shop, though I was wondering if you’d maybe want to go with me? Like just to get you some fresh air and maybe it’d help clear your head because I know you must be feeling stressed.” Donghun seemed nervous like he had the other night asking Yuchan a question and it seemed as though the younger was making Donghun feel nervous rather than the other way around like Yuchan had been worried about.</p><p>The thought of going outside had his anxiety spiking, just the chance of somehow running into Hyunwoo made him feel ill and although he supposed it would be highly unlikely, the thought still made him nervous. However, this was a chance to push himself because it’s not like he could avoid going outside forever, and also it would be a good opportunity to grab the hair dye and maybe a cheap phone so he was ready to get out of Donghun’s hair in a few days.</p><p>“O-Okay, I’ll go with you, I need a few things anyway.” Yuchan agreed and felt himself smiling in response to seeing Donghun smile.</p><p>“Alright, well I’ll go finish my breakfast and get ready, we can go whenever you’re ready.” Donghun took his leave then, letting the younger eat breakfast alone and getting ready at his own pace.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Not even an hour later, the pair were walking to the local shopping centre. The younger had told Donghun about wanting hair dye and a phone, and Donghun seemed to agree that it made sense, even gave a few suggestions about which hair dye brand would be better.</p><p>A silence seemed to have then fallen between them, and Yuchan couldn’t tell if Donghun had felt uncomfortable and just assumed at this point Yuchan wasn’t going to talk very much, therefore making conversation difficult. So, Yuchan decided to try after mentally screaming at himself for about five minutes to just say something, anything, make an effort.</p><p>“S-So, w-what do you a-at the ba-bakery you work at?” Yuchan almost cringed at how he sounded.</p><p>Donghun looked at him, seeming a little surprised by the question but happy nonetheless and Yuchan felt relieved to see him smile, understanding he wasn’t judging him.</p><p>“Well, I work on the front mainly and I do the sandwiches, the bakery only has the woman who owns it and her two daughters and they do the actual baking for the most part, sometimes I help out if they need me to but they enjoy doing it themselves I feel.” Donghun explained and before Yuchan could say anything else, the elder asked, “Do you wanna go there? It’s on the way to the shopping centre, and she gives me a discount.” He was still smiling.</p><p>“O-Okay, yeah, that’d be nice.” Yuchan agreed.</p><p>The silence followed them on the short walk to the bakery, but Donghun seemed a little more perked up than he had when they started, and Yuchan was beginning to feel less nervous. Rationally, Yuchan knew Donghun wouldn’t judge him and he wasn’t judging him for things he said or did, there had been no indication of any judgement in the last two days. It was just difficult for Yuchan to stop his mind racing.</p><p>Donghun practically beamed as they entered the small bakery barely a few minutes later, greeting a small older brunette woman behind the counter warmly and she matched his energy.</p><p>“Hun! It’s so nice to see you!” She smiled, “But what are you doing here? It’s your day off and oh- who is this?” She glanced passed Donghun and looked at Yuchan, who smiled awkwardly and mumbled out a small hello.</p><p>“Maria this is Yuchan, Yuchan this is Maria.” Donghun introduced the two to each other, “And we came to get some food, I was telling him how great you were.”</p><p>Maria tutted, “You’re just trying to flatter me so I’ll give you a discount.”   </p><p>“I already get a discount, I was being honest.” Donghun smiled once again, before turning to look at Yuchan, “Pick anything you like.” He motioned towards the counter and the younger inched a little closer to get a better look, feeling slightly awkward with his and Maria’s attention on him.</p><p>“Hun, do you mind if I speak to you in the back for a moment? I was having a problem with one of the appliances.” Maria asked, and Donghun was quick to agree in helping whilst Yuchan stayed out front. Hopefully another customer didn’t come in whilst they were back there, Yuchan was sure he would look odd just stood in an empty bakery.</p><p>Donghun glanced back at Yuchan as he followed Maria, feeling apologetic about leaving him alone in the shop but the younger seemed drawn to the offerings in front of him and so Donghun supposed that it would be okay for a few minutes.</p><p>Apparently Donghun hadn’t picked up on the tone Maria had used when she had asked him to help him fix something back here, because he was fairly surprised when Maria turned to him once the door was closed and asked, “Donghun, where did you meet him?” A hint of concern present in her tone.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Donghun was confused.</p><p>Maria sighed, “Hun…he’s covered in bruises.”</p><p>
  <em>Oh. </em>
</p><p>Thinking for a moment, Donghun tried to think of what to say because he wasn’t sure how much to tell her given it was Yuchan’s business and not his to tell, so he settled for a vague response, “Oh that, uhm I know but I’m not sure what I can tell you other than he’s going through a hard time right now and I’m just trying to help him out.”</p><p>Maria seemed to understand even if she didn’t look happy about it, “Alright, I get that, it’s his story to tell not yours but will you two be safe?”</p><p>Donghun wasn’t sure how to answer that either because in truth, he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure if Yuchan would be safe, not if Yuchan was so scared to even go to his parents in fear of this guy showing up there.</p><p>However, he didn’t want to worry Maria, “We’ll be okay, I’m just taking him shopping so he can pick up a few bits before he heads home, he’s alright.”</p><p>Maria was happy to hear that and the smile on her face when they both went back out to Yuchan was genuine, “So, have you decided what you’d like? You can pick anything, Donghun is paying so it’s okay.” Her voice was warm and Donghun felt himself smiling when Yuchan smiled in response, timidly giving his answer of wanting one of the pastries.</p><p>Paying quite happily, Donghun waved Maria goodbye before leading Yuchan back out of the bakery, feeling content in the silence that followed with Yuchan eating his food. Donghun was just glad that Yuchan seemed a little less tense than he had when they started, he wanted the younger to know that he didn’t have to be nervous around him even if it took baby steps to get there.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Walking into the local shopping centre a little while later had Yuchan feel nervous again. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been in such a large space with this many people since when he was out with Hyunwoo, it was usually out to smaller and quiet shops, ones where Yuchan couldn’t slop off or Hyunwoo couldn’t lose sight of him at any point.</p><p>As the pair walked further in, Yuchan noticed a few people glancing over at them for maybe a little too long and it was making him uncomfortable. The red head hadn’t put his hood up so his face wasn’t covered, he didn’t know if people were looking because of the bruising but he didn’t like that he seemed to have people’s attention.</p><p>Instinctively, Yuchan moved so that he was walking a little closer to Donghun, who noticed and turned to look at him, “Are you alright?”</p><p>“S-Some people are staring.” Yuchan replied, looking away from the elder and glancing around at people.</p><p>“Hey,” Donghun placed a gentle hand on Yuchan’s arm to bring his focus back to him, “Ignore them, okay? But you can tell me if it’s too much and we can leave, alright? I was hoping this would de-stress you, not cause you more stress.”</p><p>Yuchan felt the sincerity and nodded, “I-It’s okay, I…w-where did you want to go first?” He then asked, trying to distract Donghun and himself, not wanting to let his anxiety win this one.</p><p>“We can head to the pharmacy first? They’ll have the stuff for your bruises and it’s usually quiet, they probably even have the hair dye brand I mentioned.” Donghun suggested and Yuchan nodded before letting the elder guide him over to where the pharmacy was.</p><p>Thankfully, it was quiet and so when Donghun said to look for some cotton pads whilst he went to look for the medicine and hair dye a few aisles over, Yuchan felt okay.</p><p>Donghun was trying his best and Yuchan appreciated it, even the small gestures today of making sure Yuchan was comfortable enough to keep going and taking him to the bakery just to let him try their food was sweet. He wasn’t sure what kind of luck he had in bumping into Donghun the other day but he was grateful, Yuchan just hoped that he could start making Donghun feel more comfortable around him by making more of a visible effort to be more open or at least less anxious around him.</p><p>Sighing, Yuchan shook his head before looking around the shelves, hoping to locate the cotton pads Donghun had wanted him to find but ended up practically jumping out of his skin when a person suddenly appeared next to him, “Hey, aren’t you the one from the posters?”</p><p>Whipping his head around in surprise, Yuchan saw a woman looking up at him, uniform giving away that she worked at the shop.</p><p>Puzzled, the red head asked, “Wh-What poster?”</p><p>Instead of verbally answering, she motioned for him to follow her and Yuchan did so nervously, looking around behind him to see if he could find Donghun but before he could, the women spoke again, “An officer came in this morning with missing person posters, it’s you isn’t it?”</p><p>They were stood outside what was presumably the door to the staff area, but next to the door was a poster stuck on the wall with a picture of Yuchan and ‘Missing Person’ written in large letters above it. Hyunwoo’s personal contact number written below.</p><p>Immediately panicking, Yuchan started trying to utter some sort of a response, but nothing came out. Hyunwoo was looking for him and claiming he was missing so that if someone spotted him, like this woman, they could tell him, and he would find him.</p><p>
  <em>He’s gonna find me.</em>
</p><p>The women suddenly taking hold of his arm had Yuchan jumping once again, jolting him from his panicked thoughts as he looked at her to see a concerned expression, “The officer said you were his boyfriend, and I saw you come in here with a different man and you’re pretty beat up looking, so you can come in the back with me whilst I call the number.” She said, her other hand moving to the pin lock on the staff door.</p><p>“W-Wait, what?” Yuchan asked, still confused.</p><p>“If he’s kidnapped you, it’s okay, we’re gonna get help.” The woman reassured and Yuchan’s panic only increased as she tried tugging him into the room she’d just unlocked.</p><p>Yuchan turned his head to look behind him, begging to catch sight of Donghun and the second he spotted the other rounding one of the aisle corners, he called out to him, “D-Donghun!” Yuchan’s voice was panicked.</p><p>The smile adorning Donghun’s face as he rounded the corner, holding a box of hair dye in his hand to show Yuchan, was quickly wiped from his face when he saw what was happening.</p><p>“D-Donghun!” Yuchan called again, and the women’s hold on him got tighter.</p><p>“Hey, there’s no need to worry, I’m not gonna let him come in here with you, it’s safe.” She tried again and Yuchan guessed she thought he was alerting her to the fact Donghun was coming over here, not that he was calling out to him.</p><p>“Get off him, what are you doing?” Donghun asked as he got close enough to the two, pulling her hand off of the red head and turning Yuchan towards him, a gentle hand on Yuchan’s upper arm as Donghun locked eyes with him, “Are you alright?” His voice was soft.</p><p>Shaking his head, Yuchan tried to explain as he pointed to the poster next to the door, “S-She said s-she was gonna call H-Hyunwoo, he’s saying I’m missing, look I-”</p><p>The woman cut him off, “Sir, you need to step away from him.”</p><p>Donghun looked from the poster to her, confusion and anger clear on his face, “What are you talking about?”</p><p>“He’s a missing person and we need to contact the police, I have reason to suspect you’ve kidnapped him so I’m nicely asking you to step away whilst I call the number since I have you on CCTV and will inform the police if you leave.” The woman was surprisingly calm given what she thought was happening, which was the complete opposite to how Yuchan felt.</p><p>“H-He hasn’t kidnapped me, Hyunw-the officer w-was lying, I-I’m not missing.” Yuchan attempted to explain to her.</p><p>“You don’t need to lie because he’s here, we’ll get you help.” She said before turning around and heading into the staff room, leaving the door open so she had some sight on the two men.</p><p>It seemed as though she was adamant on not listening, either through embarrassment at this point or she had a misguided complete trust that the police or an officer wouldn’t lie about something.</p><p>Yuchan took a step towards her, begging as she held the phone up to her ear, “I-I’m not lying, <em>please</em> you can’t call that number.”</p><p>She looked at him with a quizzical expression and seemed as though she was about to say something but the person on the phone answered, the speaker loud enough for him to hear exactly who it was.</p><p>“Hello, this is Officer Kim Hyunwoo.”</p><p>Yuchan stared at her, wide eyed and silently begged her not to say anything but now she was blatantly just ignoring anything he was expressing to her as she replied, “Hello, I think I’ve found your missing person, I’m calling fro-”</p><p>“Yuchan, we need to leave.” Donghun brought Yuchan’s attention back to him by gently taking hold of his hand and moving them away from the woman.</p><p>“Hey, wait!” The woman called from behind the pair.</p><p>Donghun continued to lead them away from her and towards the exit to the shop, quickening their pace a little, “D-Donghun, she’s g-gonna get us in trouble.” Yuchan was scared.</p><p>Looking at the younger as they walked, Donghun said, “I’d rather potentially be in trouble for something I haven’t done then let Hyunwoo come here and find you.” His face was serious and Yuchan felt a rush of gratitude come over him.</p><p>This was the second time Donghun had stuck his neck out for him when he didn’t need to, he could have decided twice now that whatever it was Yuchan needed help with was too much for him to bother with, but he hadn’t. He was putting himself at risk to help someone who he had only met a few days ago and although Yuchan might not fully understand why, he couldn’t thank Donghun enough.</p><p>People stared as the two essentially jogged out of the shopping centre, Donghun didn’t let go of Yuchan’s hand once and didn’t even look back to see if someone was following. He just wanted to get Yuchan away from here as fast as he could.</p><p>Yuchan couldn’t believe that the woman thought Donghun had kidnapped him, especially since Yuchan had told her what was happening. For one, it made no sense Donghun would leave him alone in the shop if that was true and also, surely you would just believe what the supposed victim was telling you after begging you not to call that number. However, if she thought Donghun had kidnapped him, Yuchan was worried that’s what she would tell Hyunwoo and then Hyunwoo would try and claim the same thing which could get Donghun in serious trouble.</p><p>Searching for a missing person vs searching for someone you say has been kidnapped were completely different, and that women would likely be enough evidence for Hyunwoo to be able to convince other officers that Yuchan had been kidnapped and put out a proper search for him.</p><p>The thought made Yuchan feel sick.</p><p>“D-Donghun, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in this.” Yuchan apologised as they walked, the shopping centre now far enough behind them for Donghun to feel comfortable enough to slow their pace a little.</p><p>Giving Yuchan’s hand a squeeze, Donghun reassured, “It’s not your fault, Yuchan, I chose to help you and I’m choosing to continue helping you because I want to, and I don’t want to let a monster like Hyunwoo get what he wants.”</p><p>“B-But if he starts claiming that y-you’ve kidnapped me because of her, y-you could get arrested.” Yuchan worried.</p><p>Donghun looked to Yuchan again, “They have no proof and if that somehow happens I’d just explain what really happened, which Hyunwoo probably doesn’t want.”</p><p>Nodding, Yuchan agreed, “Y-Yeah, yeah you’re right, t-that makes sense.”</p><p>It did make sense, Donghun and Yuchan would tell the police the same thing and that wouldn’t look good for Hyunwoo. However, Yuchan didn’t trust Hyunwoo to play fair, if he claimed Yuchan had been kidnapped and Donghun was arrested he probably had a plan for in case the two of them said anything about his abuse.</p><p>“But hey, uhm, if it helps I accidentally stole this so we can still dye your hair if you’d like?” Donghun showed the hair dye box to Yuchan, a slightly guilty expression on his face, “I didn’t even think about it once I saw that woman with you.”</p><p>Yuchan laughed at that, genuinely laughed, and it caught Donghun by surprise. His laugh was cute, a little on the louder side, but cute nonetheless. Donghun found himself laughing with the younger, glad to see him express another emotion other than anxious especially given the situation.</p><p>“I think dying my hair makes the best sense right now.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Hyunwoo was fuming.</p><p>He had rushed over to the pharmacy the woman on the phone told him the second he heard Yuchan’s name through the speaker. A man telling him they needed to leave.</p><p>Yuchan was with someone else, a man no less, and Hyunwoo needed to find out exactly who so he could deal with it. He wasn’t going to let Yuchan leave him for someone else, his fears of Yuchan cheating on him were starting to feel more logical, but Hyunwoo couldn’t allow that. Not when he loved Yuchan.</p><p>He hadn’t thought he would get a response so quickly about someone finding Yuchan and he had hoped security or at least someone would have stopped Yuchan from leaving the pharmacy since he had heard to woman yell at them to stop.</p><p>Hyunwoo had all but demanded to see the CCTV for the shop as soon as he was informed that Yuchan had left with the man, the woman describing the other male as being around the same height as Yuchan, blondish hair tied in a small ponytail, and seemed assertive.</p><p>
  <em>Hm, that sounds a little familiar. </em>
</p><p>Watching the CCTV and spotting the man Yuchan had been had Hyunwoo having to suppress his rage. Why was Yuchan with the man from the other day that had threatened to call the police if Hyunwoo didn’t leave Yuchan alone? Did Yuchan know him before then? Had they planned this?</p><p>“I think that man that might have been a kidnapper, your boyfriend seemed nervous and he had all this bruising on his face.” The woman spoke from beside him and Hyunwoo looked up at her.</p><p>“Excuse me?</p><p>“I know you said he was only missing but he looked pretty messed up and they pretty much ran out of here, so I think your boyfriend may have been kidnapped.”</p><p>Hyunwoo turned back to look at the screen in front of him, maybe he could use this to his advantage.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hii, sorry it's been a while, life kinda got in the way. i made a few changes before uploading this, nothing major aside from changing the pov to third person so if you notice any mistakes please let me know, i tried checking the chapters before uploading but i probably still missed some. any comments would be appreciated xx</p><p>anyways, hope you like this so far and i'm hoping i can get updates out a bit quicker now.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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